How do we move away from being a civilization that produces art that causes comments like, “my five year old could make this,” back to being one that creates beauty and inspires deep questions? We must reject modernity and embrace tradition. To embrace tradition, we must first learn about it..
Let’s study art history together.
Madonna and Child with the Infant St John, also known as Our Lady of the Flying Saucer
Artist
Unknown
Year
15th or 16th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Round (one meter diameter)
Location
The Hercules Room of the Palazzo Vecchio (Florence, Italy)
This is one of the most famous paintings in the world, though that only came to be in the 20th century as people began to notice a small detail in the sky behind and above Our Lady. Is that… a UFO? To a modern audience, it certainly looks like one.
Setting aside the detail that makes it famous for a moment, what is this painting supposed to be depicting? The scene is of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the newly born baby Jesus, and a very young John the Baptist. This encounter is said to have occurred during the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. The meeting is not a part of the Gospel accounts, however, it was the frequent subject of Medieval Christian tradition and the inspiration of other paintings – including da Vinci’s “Virgin of the Rocks.” Mary the Mother of Jesus is depicted in red and blue – the wardrobe colors traditionally ascribed to both her and Christ, after he grew into adulthood. Only in the last few centuries do we see the two depicted artistically in other colors. Overall, this is a striking Renaissance Christian painting, though not necessarily one that stands out above its peers.
At least that was true until people began to wonder whether the unknown painter depicted a flying saucer in the sky behind them. (For more on the painting, I direct you to the following Florence-tour website)
The ‘’Madonna of the UFO’’ or ‘’Madonna of the flying saucer’’ is a painting located in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in the Hall of Hercules. Also called “Madonna and Child with the Infant St John”, the painting has been the topic of much debate between art experts and ufologists. While the painting depicts the Nativity with the infant St. John in the foreground, in the background one can see a man curiously watching an unidentified flying object (UFO).
The author of the Madonna of the UFO
The painting is of unknown origin, but it probably dates from as early as the sixteenth century. The caption under the picture attributes authorship to either Sebastiano Mainardi or Jacopo del Sellaio; conversely, some scholars attribute it to Filippo Lippi, also known as “Maestro del Tondo Miller,” after the title of one of his last works.
Moreover, we only know that the work comes from the forgotten convent of Sant’Orsola in the district of San Lorenzo in Florence.
The description of the painting
The painting is round, is one meter in diameter, and is adorned with a precious golden frame; it is located in the Hall of Hercules on the second floor of the Palazzo Vecchio, which takes its name from the coffered ceiling depicting the Twelve Labours of Hercules.
The circular painting bears the usual iconographic motif of the Renaissance: in the foreground the Virgin is seen kneeling with folded hands and leaning toward the baby, who is lying on a hem of her garment.
While the baby Jesus is reaching his hand toward his mother, St. John is attempting to support him. Behind the head of the Madonna, an ellipsoidal object can be seen in the sky, one that is very similar to modern depictions of UFOs. There is also a man painted in the background, a shepherd, with his hand on his forehead and his head turned toward the sky. Next to him is a dog that is also looking in the direction of the flying object .
The flying saucer in the painting of the Madonna with Child
For the reasons set out above, ufologists use the round painting the “Madonna dell ‘UFO” as evidence that UFO sightings date far back in time.
The unidentified flying object resembles a lead-colored disk that is tilted to the left and that has a kind of turret dome very similar to descriptions given by traditional science fiction to extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Is it really a UFO?
Many have asked themselves the reason why the artist chose to put a flying object in a picture dealing with sacred subjects.
According to art historians the flying saucer is actually an angel bearing the appearance of a luminous cloud. In fact, while the representation of an angel in a non-anthropomorphic manner is rare, the Scriptures, especially the apocryphal Gospels, contain descriptions similar to the iconography of the “Tondo del Maestro Miller”.
Another clue that this is an angel is the fact that in many paintings of the Florentine Renaissance the subject of the Nativity was accompanied by that of the Annunciation.
This scene is represented in very similar ways in many other Florentine paintings of the ‘400 and ‘500 that have as subject the Nativity or Adoration of the Infant Christ.
In most cases, a shepherd holds his hand over his forehead, as if to protect his eyes from the light of the “Glory of God,” referred to in many passages of the Gospels. It is also common to see a dog looking at the apparition. In many cases, the Angel comes out of a cloud surrounded by light or, in the oldest paintings, by golden rays.
The dogma of Mary’s Virginity in the painting
But the painting has another special feature: in the top left corner can be seen the Nativity Star with three other small stars or flames. A very similar detail is present in the Madonna of the Book (1480) by Sandro Botticelli.
The three stars in the Byzantine tradition of painting represent the threefold virginity of the Madonna: before, during, and after childbirth. Therefore, according to the hypothesis of art historians, the angelic, luminous cloud, and the three star are all meant to reiterate the cardinal dogmas of the Catholic faith.
It was more of a 20th century view that UFOs and extra-terrestrials were biological beings, from off-planet, who were bound by space and time to a great degree, in the same way that humanity is – except perhaps to the extent that they have developed technology to overcome those barriers. However, in recent years, the conversation around UFOs and extra-terrestrials is usually accompanied by verbiage describing them as “inter-dimensional beings.” The discussion is serious enough to come up regularly in the halls of the United States government. In fact, you could argue that a soft disclosure of non-human intelligence has already occurred with various members of the U.S. government admitting to knowing of non-human intelligences and technologies – and on the record.
My point is… if you want to believe it’s a UFO, you are free to continue doing so. If you want to believe it’s an angel, you are free to continue doing so. If you want to believe that it’s both… well, the U.S. government might share your views.
